Cabinet door latch

ABSTRACT

This device is intended for readily latching and releasing the door of a cabinet, particularly of a portable cabinet such as used commercially in restaurants, bakeries, cafeterias, hospitals, etc., with removable racks or trays. It consists of a keeper plate which is secured to the side of the latch door jamb and a raised boss for cooperating with a complimentary aperture in a latch plate member which is secured in cooperating position on the door. The latch plate member consists of an angle iron member, one angle face of which is secured on the front face of the door with its other angle face abutting the edge face of the door and having a stepped latch plate extending therefrom, with a boss cooperating aperture, and sliding over the boss on the keeper plate by means of an angle lip, which lip terminates in a tongue handle for manually lifting the latch plate to release position when opening the door.

United States Patent [191 Onori [54] CABINET DOOR LATCH [76] lnventor: Bruno Onori, 4250 NW. 135th Street, Miami, Fla. 33100 [22] Filed: April 9, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 132,655

[52] US. Cl ..292/87 [51] Int. Cl. ..EQS 19/06 [58] Field of Search ..292/80, 87, 88, 89, 76

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,412,176 4/1922 Gaynor ..292/80 2,305,432 12/1942 Kupfermann et al... .....292/87 212,920 3/1879 Fuller ..292/87 333,405 l2/1885 Gard ..'..292/76 1,732,940 10/1929 Larson ..292/76 2,488,119 11/1949 Ferris .292/76 X 2,358,607 9/1944 Tinnerman ..292/87 Jan. 16, 1973 Primary ExaminerRichard E. Moore Attorney-Gustave Miller [57] ABSTRACT This device is intended for readily latching and releasing the door of a cabinet, particularly of a portable cabinet such as used commercially in restaurants, bakeries, cafeterias, hospitals, etc., with removable racks or trays. It consists of a keeper plate which is secured to the side of the latch door jamb and a raised boss for cooperating with a complimentary aperture in a latch plate member which is secured in cooperating position on the door. The latch plate member consists of an angle iron member, one angle face of which is secured on the front face of the door with its other angle face abutting the edge face of the door and having a stepped latch plate extending therefrom, with a boss'cooperating aperture, and sliding over the boss on the keeper plate by means of an angle lip, which lip terminates in a tongue handle for manually lifting the latch plate to release position when opening the door.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJAHIB I973 3.71 l, 140

/8 p E a 32 INVENTOR 7 5 Bruno Onori ATTORNEY CABINET DOOR LATCH SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This latch assembly consists of two parts, one, a keeper plate member having a keeper bossextending smoothly therefrom, the boss being elongate and narrow and extending vertically when in position on the side surface of the door jamb of the cabinet. The other part is the latch assembly plate consisting of an angle iron member, which is secured over the front and side edge of the door and has a latch plate which aligns with the side surface of the door jamb on which the keeper plate is secured. One angle iron face is secured to the front surface of the door, the other angle iron face extends over the side edge surface of the door, then is stepped slightly, the thickness of the keeper plate, then has a latch plate extending from the stepped portion over the keeper plate, a latch aperture complimentary to the keeper boss being located in the latch plate. The side further from the stepped portion is angled away from the latch plate to a height at least slightly higher than the keeper boss, and then terminates in a further expending tongue proving a handle for manually lifting the latch plate to keeper boss disengaging position, permitting the door to be readily opened.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is an object of this invention to provide an improved latch especially for use on a portable cabinet, which will automatically latch to closing position when the door is closed, and which may be readily opened manually by merely pulling forward a tongue handle extending from the latch plate member.

A further object of this invention is to provide a latch assembly particularly intended for use on a cabinet wherein the cabinet door is hinged on one vertical edge on one door jamb, and the other vertical edge abuts against the other door jamb to which it is to be latched for ready unlatching. The type of portable cabinet for which this latch invention is intended is of the portable type, on wheels, used in bakeries, restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals, etc., for temporarily storing and carrying food, etc., and other industries wherein goods are carried by trays or racks and inserted onto ledges on the insides of the cabinet.

The door may be opened with a minimum of effort by manually lifting a tongue handle extending from the latch plate member, and it is an object of this invention to supply such a latch assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES With the above and other related objects in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a portable cabinet to which the latch assembly of this invention has been applied.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective detail view of the latch assembly on the door and door jamb surface.

FIG. 3 is a section view on line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the keeper plate.

FIG. 5 is a side edge view of the keeper plate on line s-s ofFIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION There is shown at 10, the latch assembly of this invention for use in mounting on the door 12 and latch door jamb 14 of a portable cabinet riding on swiveled wheels 18 for ready portability. This cabinet 16 is of the type usually provided in bakeries, restaurants, cafeterias, hospitals, industries, etc., for temporarily carrying trays, pans of food, dishes or other articles, and for transporting the trays or pans to the desired location. The door 12 is hinged at one vertical edge 20 on conventional hinges 22 on the door hinge jamb (not shown) for closing its other vertical door edge rear surface 24 into abutting relation with the front surface 26 of the latch door jamb l4, and with the door edge end surface 28 in substantial alignment with the vertical side surface 30 of the latch door jamb 14.

The latch assembly 10 consists of two parts, one part being the keeper plate member 32, as shown per se in front and side elevation in FIGS. 4 and 5. It has an elongate keeper narrow boss 34 extending smoothly forwardly therefrom. The boss 34 extends vertically when mounted on the door latch surface 30 of door jamb 14, being secured thereto in any suitable manner, as by stud screws 36 through holes 38 in the keeper plate 32. The other part of the latch assembly 10 is the latch plate member 40 having an angle iron portion with one angle iron face mounting portion 42 secured, as by rivets 44 to the front surface 46 of door 12. The other angle iron face 48 extends closely over door edge end surface 28, and extends by stepped portion 50, stepped the thickness of keeper plate 32, to the latch plate portion 52 which has a latch aperture 54 complementary to latch boss 32. A lifting lip 56 extends at an outward angle from the other vertical edge of latch plate portion 52 at least slightly higher than the height of the latch boss 32, so that lip 56 will lift and slide the latch plate portion 52 over the boss 32 as the door 12 is closed to latching position. Extending from the other vertical edge of the lip 56 is a tongue 58 providing a handle for manually releasing the latch plate portion 52 from engagement with the latch boss 32, permitting the door 12 to be readily opened.

. OPERATION OF THE INVENTION In operation, the latch assembly is attached in proper position on the portable cabinet 16 by first securing the latch boss 32 on the side surface 30 of the latch door jamb 14. Then, the latch plate member 40, with the door 12 held in closed position, is placed in proper position with its latch aperture 54 engaged over the latch boss 32, which will place the angle iron face mounting portion 42 in proper position on the door 12 so that the rivets 44 may be secured through the rivet holes 44 to firmly secure the latch plate member 42 in position. To close the door 12 against the door jamb 14, it may be merely slammed thereagainst, as would most likely happen when the operator has his hands occupied with a tray he has just removed from the cabinet, making manual manipulation unnecessary in the closing operation. To' open the door 12, the operator just manually pulls tongue handle 58 forward in a door opening direction, and the latch aperture 54 disengages from the latch boss 32 and the door 12 then opens.

ABSTRACT OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings like numbers refer to like parts, and for purposes of explication, marshalled below are the numbered parts of the improved latch assembly of this invention,

latch assembly 12 door 14 latch door jamb 16 portable cabinet 18 swivel wheels 20 hinging edge of door 12 22 hinges 24 rear face surface vertical edge of door 12 26 abutting front surface of latch door jamb 14 28 door edge end surface aligning with 30 30 vertical side surface of latching door jamb 14 32 keeper plate member 34 vertically extending elongate keeper boss 36 stud screw 38 screw holes in 32 40 latch plate member 42 front angle iron face mounting portion of latch plate member 42 44 rivets through 40 46 front surface of door 12 48 side angle iron face of 42 50 stepped portion between 48 and 52 52 latch plate portion 54 latch aperture complementary to latch boss 32 56 lifting lip on vertical edge of 52 58 tongue on lip 58 providing manually operable handle Although this invention has been described in considerable detail, such description is intended as being illustrative rather than limiting, and the scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

1. A door latch assembly (10) for use on a container (16) having a door (12) hinged (20, 22) to one door jamb of the container and latchable to the other door jamb (14), the vertical surface (24) of the door (12) in closed position abutting the front surface (26) of the latching jamb (l4), and the end edge surface (28) of the door (12) substantially aligning with the outer side surface (30) of said latching door jamb (14); the improvement comprising a keeper plate member (32) having an elongate, narrow, vertically extending boss (34) extending outwardly from the outer surface thereof (32) in combination with a right angle latch member (40), one leg (42) of said right angle latch member (40) providing a mounting member, a latch plate (52) connected to the end of the other leg (48) of said right angle latch member (40) in offset and parallei relation thereto by a step (S0) complementary to the thickness of said keeper plate member (32), said latch plate (52) having an elongate aperture (54) therein complementary to said keeper plate boss (34), a lip (56) angled outwardly from said latch plate (52) for sliding over said boss (34) and lifting said apertured latch plate (52) over said boss (34) as the door (12) is moved to the closed position, and a handle tongue (58) extending from said lip (56) for manually lifting said latch plate (54) to release position for permitting the door (12) to be opened. 

1. A door latch assembly (10) for use on a container (16) having a door (12) hinged (20, 22) to one door jamb of the container and latchable to the other door jamb (14), the vertical surface (24) of the door (12) in closed position abutting the front surface (26) of the latching jamb (14), and the end edge surface (28) of the door (12) substantially aligning with the outer side surface (30) of said latching door jamb (14); the improvement comprising a keeper plate member (32) having an elongate, narrow, vertically extending boss (34) extending outwardly from the outer surface thereof (32) in combination with a right angle latch member (40), one leg (42) of said right angle latch member (40) providing a mounting member, a latch plate (52) connected to the end of the other leg (48) of said right angle latch member (40) in offset and parallel relation thereto by a step (50) complementary to the thickness of said keeper plate member (32), said latch plate (52) having an elongate aperture (54) therein complementary to said keeper plate boss (34), a lip (56) angled outwardly from said latch plate (52) for sliding over said boss (34) and lifting said apertured latch plate (52) over said boss (34) as the door (12) is moved to the closed position, and a handle tongue (58) extending from said lip (56) for manually lifting said latch plate (54) to release position for permitting the door (12) to be opened. 